


The Waves Sing About Sorrow

by cblacksmith



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: An outsider's narration of Vex's death, Celestial Language, Dalen's Closet One Shot, Episode: Dalen's Closet, Gen, Sirens, Use of they/them pronouns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:54:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23223583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cblacksmith/pseuds/cblacksmith
Summary: There were two witnesses to Lady Vex'ahlia's death the day of her wedding; her betrothed and a young siren who was hunting for a meal.
Relationships: Percival "Percy" Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III/Vex'ahlia
Comments: 2
Kudos: 39





	The Waves Sing About Sorrow

The was a tale of sorrow and despair that went from mouth to mouth amongst the siren community that surrounded the bay of gifts. This tale was very special, because it wasn’t about sailors or gods or monsters, because it was very short, and because it was so very painful to hear.

It all started one night where the energy ran fast through both water and air, a magical mist pooling over the surface and on the beaches of Dalen’s Closet, dark and furious. The sirens were there, they could smell something coming, feel the prickling of battle on their skin; there would be death, and they would be around to claim anybody the sea offered.

The adult hunters had gathered close to the shallows, hoping some wayward soul would be dragged by a cruel current. Only a young and adventurous kid had been roaming close enough to the cliff to notice what happened. 

The wind had picked up close to the shallows, carrying away the mist and the clouds, but forming angry and tall waves that would carry any unsuspecting siren away, and Coranna had had one too many bad experiences with stormy waters to stay close to the shore, so she swam away from the bay, to where the storm didn’t quite reach.

There was a splash and the scent of fear filled the waters.

Two figures were wriggling around. Coranna hid behind a rock close by and watched the pair of humanoids struggle as they sunk. Metals and crystals shimmered with the moonlight that filtered through the lazy waters as the couple struggled to survive, air escaping from their lungs in playful bubbles.

One managed to swim up to the surface in spite of their bindings and strong voice billowed over the waves, while the other seemed to be trying to cut them off, but the situation was too tense or they were too weak, because after one final attempt, the squirming body went limp and an object it was holding slipped from their hands and started sinking as well.

Coronna willed herself to swim closer to the unmoving figure, and it was an ethereal sight; al light blue silks billowing around like a lazy aura framing her body. Red lips parted, dark eyes glossed over with death and black hair curling upwards like a mournful kraken. Her jewels glimmered and the sea stilled, letting the woman down gently.

The siren wanted to get up close to touch her, see if she was real or a spirit, but the other person that had managed to break the surface looked under water and saw the woman, still sinking and unmoving.

He got his head out of the water and started screaming again, but this time their voice was different, and also what they said. They weren’t asking for help anymore.

“YOU CAN TAKE EVERYTHING BUT LEAVE HER! TAKE ME! I’LL GIVE YOU MY SOUL”

Coranna was frozen on the spot as the emotion on the man’s voice pierced her heart.

“ORTHAX! I’LL TAKE ANOTHER DEAL!”

Maybe she could help him.

“IT’S YOUR FUCKING SISTER! YOU CAN’T LET HER DIE, VAX! DO IT FOR HER! FOR VESPER!”

But the woman before her was already dead. There was nothing for her to do, except to claim the body.

The man stopped yelling. And he started… singing? It was beautiful but heart-wrenching. Coranna was sure he sang the song the moon dedicated to the sun when she missed his touch.

She couldn’t understand the words, but she did understand melodies, tones and the _emotions_ , so she swam up to the woman that the extreme pain belonged to and sang along to the person. She could feel the love and the pain and the joy and the loss and all those things that were and that hadn’t been. She could feel snow and sand. She felt death for the first time but without the scent of fear. The softness of feathers and the thrill of the hunt. 

She felt a family that became reduced, one after the other. She saw a single whale, swimming alone and singing to itself as it tried to find a partner. She felt the family grow bigger and then smaller again and again, on an endless cycle of adventure and risks taken.

The melodies carried her into a symphony with the ocean, a connection that brought her memories that weren’t her own, and she saw the woman, and she saw the man, and she knew their names. She watched them, fighting back to back among other people. Heroes. 

She saw a powerful elemental, and them she felt it coming closer.

Now it was her fear that tinted the water, and Coranna scrambled to swim away as she saw the water elemental bursting through over her shoulder. It enveloped the woman and carried her away. 

The man didn’t stop singing.

She couldn’t stay. She didn’t want to know what the elemental would to the beautiful woman and she could not take any more of the sorrow that the voice carried through water and wind. She swam away as fast as she could, back to her colony, and the only way to express the despair she felt, the one that was aching on her bones, was to sing it to her people, because she couldn’t cry.


End file.
